Mr Porkchop's Profile

There were some ephermeral Tunisian/North African places in Astoria a few years back that were said to have it, but I never got a chance to try here. Loved trying it in Tunis. A friend and I resorted to a recipe and had a pretty successful lablabi brunch using this recipe utilizing veal bones: http://www.lindystoast.com/2006/02/le...

I've eaten there a few times (three? four?) and find it wholly mediocre - despite it being holy (mole) ground for the chowhound gringo echo chamber. I was down in Mexico City a few months ago and had some amazing food which reminded me that, yes, I have not gone crazy with my taste in Mexican food after years of New York deprivation.

I once had a conversation with the son of the founder about boxing and our shared Armenian heritage. They are most definitely Argentine(-Armenian) though I'm sure the clientele is mixed. I had a Uruguayan cab driver who said La Fusta was his favorite. Personally, I also slightly prefer El Chivito, which does in fact advertise itself as Uruguayan. All that said, I've spent a cumulative few months between Argentina and Uruguay and never noticed an appreciable difference in the food. The wine on the otherhand...

Went this past Sunday and one of us at our table also ordered what sounds like the same fava bean pasta. It did start with an "M." Mezzesomething, I think. There was a conversation about the name in our group since it was unfamiliar, and as it was translated for me by a dining companian (sorry, I can't remember the details) was pretty nonsensical. I thought it was the best thing we had, but it was all quite good. All four pastas we tried were stand outs, while the entrees were a bit less memorable (though that could have been the wine taking effect at that point).

For what it's worth, one of the people in our party has a pretty extensive background in Italian cuisine who guided our ordering a bit. He seemed to like the whole meal, and enjoyed speaking Italian with those in the staff who weren't Albanian.

I've tried Domenick's and Roberto's both now, and have enjoyed both. But I think anyone who says they prefer Domenick's must REALLY like red sauce... a lot.

In my experience, the food at QC has tasted pretty good, which is the important thing to me - some of it having pre-fab elements, some it not. I can't speak to folk's "sensibilities" and, on a related point, will amusedly hold my breath from further comment on the gentrification issue.

I've done a fair amount of traveling in the former Yugoslavia, including Sarajevo, and always thought this place was very, very good. I think likely the most authentically Bosnian place in New York. That said, I've only had the Cevapcici. But then, the little guys made up 90 percent of my meals in Bosnia.

I've been to Kickshaw a couple of times now, and last time I went we asked if it was possible to get some coffee to go and were promptly ignored for a good 5-10 minutes before just walking out. If that place isn't tres gentrifique I don't know what is. I took a friend there from my Portland, Oregon days and even he thought they were trying a bit too hard, which is saying something. I'm not sure the 'tude is worth it for an overpriced, if slightly above average, grilled cheese, but the steady crowd suggests it definitely has a clientele.

My longest wait had to be M. Wells, or Taverna Kyclades. Only other place I can ever recall waiting any significant time is Agnanti.

As for the surviving members of that group, neither wait was that bad. For Kyclades, as I recall they seemed willing to call you when your table came up, and the Friday night we went, it ended up being a shorter wait than what was quoted (those some old Greek guys did try and jack our table). We just spent 45 minutes in a nearby bar.

For Agnanti, the Friday night wait wasn't bad (maybe a half hour?), they were gracious, or maybe I'll forgive anyone that gives me a free glass of wine while I wait.

Yes! It's great actually! I'm surprised I haven't done a more detailed post on it yet.

Quickly, I'll say it's really some of the best New Orleans-style cooking I've had outside of the South. I haven't eaten that extensively through the menu, but really didn't have anything I disliked (aside from the place occasionally sharing in the New York compulsion to fill out a plate with some superfluous pile of bagged spring green mix).

Off the top of my head I really like the Muffaletta, which exceeded my expectations. So many in New York are so bad. If you're a fan (and a glutton), you could get a half sandwich and split it as an app. The crawfish boudain balls were great. I tried the roast beef po' boy with debris, an obvious homage to Mothers in NOLA and recall it being tasty. I tried some fried shrimp (can't remember if it was loose or in po' boy form) and remember is being even better.

Had some fried chicken at some point, and recall it being tasty, though not sure it would be my go to order. As for sides, the mac n cheese was good, but I could maybe see the cracker crust being a little polarizing (I liked it, but I've got a little cracker in me too).

Unsurprisingly, desserts were a stand out. I'm not a dessert person but my dining companion and I agreed the popcorn pudding we had on one occassion was one of the best desserts we could remember. Proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Wide-ranging menu, so I can't guarentee all hits, but I enjoyed what I've tried. Always glad to have Abita on tap, and I tried some banana fosters martini or something that was way too sweet but was very effective in getting me drunk. They also have some version of the yellowish-green Bourbon Street hand grenade staple, but I can't recall what they called it.

Service both times has seemed a bit spacey to start, maybe overly familial, but has ended up being friendly and effective. Maybe it's a conscious follow through on the South Louisiana hospitality, or maybe they just coincidentally hired some extras from a Confederacy of Dunces.

I really want to try and get in for the brunch/drunch (drunk brunch) sometime. They advertise some spicy african-american-chinese soup that sounds very, very intriguing.

I'll certainly try it sometime, certainly now that there's one in Astoria. It's a little hard to perceive the forest of refinement through the menu's trees - taquitos, nachos, burritos, fajitas, ubiquitous black beans - but people seem to rave about the place, so I'll try it with an open mind. Not that any of those items are bad, per se, but they don't leap off a menu. If they make an above average namesake mole poblano, they'll be okay in my book.

I've never eaten at the original. I always think about it, then look at the online menu and get turned off by why what looks like your average crappy Manhattan-style Mexican food with seitan and spinach burritos. Is there something interesting going on there that I'm not seeing? Maybe I should "Cierra Los Ojos, Abre La Boca And See The Difference," as the website says.

No prob. And I had every intention, but forget to mention, that Tu Casa on Steinway just South of 30th ave has some great Peruvian/Latin food. It was being discussed here in another thread a few days ago.

There's also the more casual, take out oriented Latin Cabana on Steinway that does Cuban/Dominican food down towards Queens Blvd.

Speaking of "latin," there's that ginormous Mi Candela place that opened up across from the Starbucks. It has the lighting of a lingerie shop, but I think advertizes itself as serving Puerto rican food. Anyone dared to go in? Along with that Don Coqui place under the NQ tracks, seems like Astoria is becoming a mecca for garish Puerto Rican restaurants all of a sudden.

I'll add that I've tried the "another Moroccan sandwich place" I mentioned (it's simply named the Halal Sandwich Shop) and will say it's quite good. Stays open late, and does a bustling "nuit" time business.

XOXO has sadly closed, but looks to be replaced by something similarly windowless, and hopefully just as depressing. The Afghan place is gone too. At least some people know how to cut their loses and pull out when it comes to Afghanistan.

I've now tried La Shish, the shawarma stand/market that displays large turning wheels of shawarma in its window that, for me, glow brighter than any neon. At first glance it seems to be a cleaner version of Cedar Meat House over on 30th ave, but I found the lettuce and tomatoes to look like they sat out for 40 days and 40 nights. I think Cedar Meat House's food is better quality. When it comes to who has a gruffer pita stuffer, it's a wash.

Finally tried Laziza for sweets. Some of the best baklava out there, period.

There's some intersting things happening around 30th ave and Steinway these days. I had brunch at Queens Comfort last weekend, just as they were about to celebrate their 1 year anniversary. My friend and I were both pleasantly surprised. The place was doing a brisk business, and strongly encouraged BYOB. I really liked the breakfast burger. Lots of downmarket good ideas, like a tasty fried chicken breast sandwiched in eggos and covered with spicy syrup. Close enough to Steinway where I'm going to mention it is Sugerfreak, which is easily one of the best New Orelans style restaurants I've eaten at outside of NOLA. Their Muffalata embarrasses some of those they try to pass off in the city. Also, right there on 30th Ave and Steinway there's a place, I don't know the name, that has some fun looking Drag Queen Brunch. If you are a guy who wears Afflication shirts and like to watch UFC, you could stop into Canz, which is New York's (Jersey's?) answer to Hooters. Actually, the bar food isn't that bad, for the type of place. I'm pretty sure some of the girls who work there and the drag queens a few doors down get their make up done by the same people.

Down closer to Broadway, I can't think of too many changes. There's a Mama Empanada's now, south of Broadway. Based off their branch locations, they must double as Colombian consulates. There's Queen's Kickshaw right there on Broadway now too, which does high end grilled cheese and coffee for Astoria's hipsters which seem to have finally reached critical mass (and they are critical, aren't they?). Kickshaw gets mentioned in every NY Mag NYC round up as something token for Queens, but I wouldn't personally go out of my way for it. It would be a nice spot to read the paper on a Saturday, but the concept seems a bit all over the place for me, and it's a little overpriced for the neighborhood.

Is this your first time in the neighborhood period? You'll be happy to hear there are no shortage of locals-only Latino dive bars, that's for certain. It's a bit like asking about trees in the woods. The only real question is how much fun you'll have at them.

Lots of them are variations on the theme of too loud dance music, a few loitering dollar a dance girls, beer buckets and aguardiente, waitresses in corsets, even if you rather they weren't, maybe yesterday's soccer on a projector screen. La Jungla and La Escuelita both are in this category, as is Romanticos and the place next door ("Luna" something?), which advertises itself as a gentleman's club, but is pretty much the same thing. I feel all are mostly Mexican/Central American clientele with Dominican/Colombian women working inside. Chibcha is a Colombian dance club recommended by a friend's Ecuadorian shoeshine guy, but it's been empty on most occasions I've been in, and I'm pretty sure if the music was quieter and my Spanish was better I could confirm my suspicions that I've been propositioned for sex inside. If you want the spectacle Flamingos is probably the most unapologetic "dance bar" in the area.

For less overt sexuality and being able to hear yourself speak I'd suggest Scorpion Bar or Cafe 75 Bar, with Cafe 75 Bar being more laidback on my occasional wait by the subway stop.

I think a lot of the guys/families in the neighborhood do their respective pre-gaming/family drinking in the restaurants along Roosevelt, so if you're at all intimidated by what I wrote about, restaurants might be good choices, as almost all serve beer buckets of Mexican brands. I don't care for Coatzingo, but had a nice meal at one fo the Tacos Suadero not too long ago. These places have the advantage of food, of course, if you want to food pregame your arepa. For a food/drink stop in a dinerish setting you could do worse than a stop on the stool at El Sitio, the Caribean spot not too far away

You should be aware, if you're just going to randomly jump in a spot, that Atlantis, right by the lady herself, is a large gay club, depending on whether that's your thing or not. I understand it to also slant towards hispanic, but I've seen more white dudes come out of there than any other bar in the area.

Many of the bars in Woodside on your way in on the 7 follow the untz-untz music and busty waitress model described above, but if you wanted a stop off on the way out both Woodside and Sunnyside have some great Irish bars. For non-Latino drinking you can grab a large Taj and listen to the Nepali cover band at Tibetan Yak, or stop off at the Korean hof ("Prince" I think it's called?) just down Broadway past Roosevelt.

In addition to John Brown's Smokehouse, there's now Butcher Bar in Astoria serving BBQ. If I'm not mistaken both have now been written up by Dave Cook in the Times. For the next Times article, perhaps it's worth asking, is BBQ now NYC's biggest harbinger of gentrefication?

I've tried both these places now. Both have been seamless orders, so you can discount that as you like, but I'm of the opinion that BBQ should be able to travel across Astoria (if not a couple hours in backroads Texas).

For my money, deciding between the two, I'd bet on Brown. I tried the ribs, which were good, but the burnt ends might have been the best bite of BBQ I've had in NYC. I know a guy who knows the guy who runs this place, and I suppose quality BBQ should be expected from his Kansas City by way of Austin by way of Hill Country (Chelsea) pedigree. Too bad it's a bit in the boonies so it doesn't seem like a beer and BBQ destination I'd go with a group for dinner, but maybe some someday they'll expand it out into such. I also had the mac n' cheese, which I recall being quite tasty.

Butcher Bar I was less impressed by. I got the half and half sandwich, half brisket and half pulled pork. I thought $10.99 was a little expensive for a half and half that wasn't coming from a lady of the night. Along with yet another side of mac n' cheese, it seemed I spent a lot on something that wasn't terribly filling. But then, when I eat BBQ I do so to the point of immobility. I thought the brisket was quite good, but the pork was just not right. It was tough and stringy and not terribly recognizable as BBQ pulled pork. It was more like a chewy, ropey pork version of Mexican chicken tinga, in a bad way. I was expecting more since I understand the chef to be from Austin... but maybe that explains why the pork wasn't in his wheelhouse.

As for the "accoutrement", the roll on the sandwich was a bit dense and dry too. I did like the little cup of standard coldslaw and pickle. As for the mac and cheese, it was more like shells and cheese. It literally was shells, and had a that creamy Kraft-like consistancy, though with whiter cheese. It was actually fine and tasty, but not what I was expecting.

I've never had any problem with the service here, though my interaction up the stairs in the restaurant portion is usually limited to checking boxes for ingredients and waving the kids down for another round of beers. I would expect any problems to stem from a langauge barrier or their relative youth, but I've had one guy very happily fish a giant crab out of a tank for us to inspect.

I've actually had quite memorable service from the girls out front, who seem to remember me when I go in. The Nepalese girl even gave me a bite of her Nepalese takeout one time. The mananger out front with the *ahem* "enhancements" can be a bit stern but seems to warm up when you get her talking.

Anyway, agree with mookleknuck that the spicy broth could be spicier, and that's from totally American (and in some cases Canadian) palettes. I wonder if they'd be receptive to upping the spice level upon request. Anyone had success with this? Or know a spicer option nearby? Little Pepper is too far for me now, but I loved it in its old location. That definitely gave me head sweats.

Anyone else noticed that there's now a momo cart on Broadway just west of Roosevelt? It seems the name is Potala, like the palace. Looks like you get 7 or 8 momo for $5, beef only. I wasn't terribly impressed, but this was dessert for me after a substanial meal, so maybe it was just my appetite at the time. A woman got a few cartons of them ahead of me, so it seems some folks in the Himalayan community out there dig them. The chili sauce that came with them was incredibly spicy, so it's got that going for it.

I went for the first time this past Friday and really enjoyed it. Really friendly service. The waiter even teased me for loading my food up witht e chili oil on the table. I wish I'd taken advantage of his friendliness and had him decipher all the specials on the wall.

My first visit I stuck to basics and tried the hand cut noodles with in spicy beef soup and some pork and chive dumplings. For $8.50 I maybe made it through half of what what served to me before stumbling sated out into the snow covered Elmhurst street clutching my stomach, in a good way. While perhaps not anything unique or special, I really enjoyed the dumplings which had a familiar quality that really transported me back to some mountain of dumplings I took down back in china years ago. Something very familar and homey about the whole place, which has me looking forward to future meals.

I didn't have a bad meal here by any stretch, but man, this place needs to be taken down a few pegs. I've already had someone tell this is the best Chinese in the city, though I pretty quickly established this person had never eaten Sichuan before, let along at any of the much better restaurant charging half as much in a two avenue radius.

I think it's really just a case of lipstick on a pig, even if that pig is twice cooked pork. This restaurant did a very wise thing in investing in decor, marketing, and named cocktails in order to bring in a Grub Street crowd. Then they did another brilliant thing in not giving people a General Tso's escape hatch, so people have to try authentic Chinese cuisine (and discover they actually LIKE it). People can't go back to their coworkers and complain about the mediocre Americanized Chinese food that places like Lan Sheng and Szechwan Gourmet can't seem to let go from their menus (not saying American-Chinese food is universally mediocre, but some of the midtown Sichuan places have particularly bad versions... even for New York).

A few more superficial observations before getting to the food. I've seen more Asian folks in line at a taco truck. It was a busy lunch service, but it was a total white out, dramatically illustrated by the older UES stereotype sitting next to us basically shouting to the room that she couldn't use chopsticks and would need a fork. Dispositive of the food? No. Indicative of the restaurant's success thus far? Perhaps.

We had a white dude as a waiter too. Does it matter? Not really. But I think we can all admit that it's a bit atypical for New York Chinese restaurants. Controversial as it may be, I have to ask why? And I'm inclined to conclude that it's part of the conscious attempt to "elevate" the place, which I personally find a bit clumsily done and potentially offensive. Fine if they wanted experienced waitstaff, but our server wasn't very competent. As just one example, after nearly having us sign a waiver about the supposed spiciness of the food he left our waters unfilled for the entirety of the meal. My only guess as to why they hired this particularly individual (and now this is real stereotyping) is because I'd bet quite a few redbacks he spoke Mandarin. He very much seem like the type of young American man you so often find across China, and I felt like I was being set up for a gimmick if I were to engage him in a discussion of the menu.

So, the food. We started with the cold rabbit dish. I can't say anything particularly good or bad about this since it's not something I typically order, finding it more an "ossuary" than awesome most of the time, but my friend wanted to order it. The flavor was good, but the expected bones and chewiness were there.

We tried the dumplings in chili oil. I thought they were light, and probably would have really enjoyed the filling if I could taste it through the much too sweet sauce/dressing.

Dan Dan noodles were forgettable and a bit hard to mix up in the little crock they came in. Utterly lacking in flavor until, again, to echo others on here, too much sweetness was found in the bottom.

The Chungking Chicken was perhaps the biggest disappointment as it was entirely too soggy, and had none of the pop of a well done version of this dish. I didn't care for how the chilis were diced up. It likely made the dish spicier, but I never viewed this as a particularly spicy dish. As I was first exposed to it, you dug the chicken pieces out of the whole chilis, finding them infused with the fragrance of their chili nest. This just seemed chopped up into a much clumsier cousin.

The cumin lamb was tasty, and likely my favorite thing we had. It had a notable gaminess I enjoyed, and was a pleasant spicy from chili heat. All of the dishes I tried were quite light on any sort of numbing Sichuan peppercorniness.

We got the pea shoots as a vegetable, which were fine. They didn't seem very well trimmed, so sometimes it was like we were eating pea branches, but they tasted fine, and I suppose you could spin them as "rustic." However, I'm not sure what justified the 15 dollar price tag other than pretense.

$15 pea shoots really are at the heart of criticisms of the place. I think any number of cities in America could do much worse than a Cafe China popping up, but I don't see how it makes any sense paying extra money for food on average inferior to other nearby options (not even bringing Outer Boroughs Chinese into the equation).

I may try it again sometime for dinner and see if that alters my opinion, but for now I'd suggest they spend less money on prints evoking 1930s Shanghai and more effort spent on trying to capture 21st Century Chengdu. I'll see if another visit changes anything, but for now I'd say the Empress Dowager has no clothes.